Techniques for providing an electronic representation of a card

ABSTRACT

Techniques for making electronic cards that can be displayed on a mobile phone. The techniques permit making an electronic card based on an arbitrary SMS message and making an electronic card (eCard) that corresponds to a pre-existing non-electronic privilege card such as a loyalty card. In the latter case, the system on which the card is being made obtains information about the user and the issuer and uses the information to determine whether to issue the eCard and also to make use validity information which is associated with the card and is used to determine the validity of the card as it is used.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/371,130, filed Feb. 13, 2009, to be issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,746,581on Jun. 10, 2014, which is a nonprovisional application of U.S.provisional patent application 61/028,669, “Techniques for providing anelectronic representation of a card”, filed Feb. 14, 2008. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/371,130 also is a continuation-in-part of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/765,096, “Using validity events tocontrol the use of coupons containing barcodes in mobile devices thatdisplay the barcodes for reading by barcode readers”, now U.S. Pat. No.8,430,300, which has a 371(c) date of Jun. 19, 2007. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/371,130 also is a continuation-in-part of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/296,329, “Customizing barcode images forparticular displays”, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,736,615, which is the U.S.National Stage of PCT/US2007/010270 and has a 371(c) date of Oct. 7,2008. U.S. Ser. No. 11/765,096 has been published as U.S. patentpublication 2007/0241189, and that published patent application isincorporated by reference herein for all purposes. PCT/US2007/010270 hasbeen published as WO 2007/127385. Copies of both 2007/0241189 and WO2007/127385 are attached as appendices A and B to the presentapplication and form part of its disclosure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Electronic cards, in particular electronic cards that correspond toalready issued non-electronic cards which are issued by a card issuingparty (the card issuer) to a party to which the card issuer is grantinga privilege. Such cards will be termed in the following privilege cards.Common examples of privilege cards include coupons, loyalty cards, giftcards, identification cards, credit or debit cards, membership cards,tickets, and licenses.

2. Description of Related Art

Electronic privilege cards (“eCards”) can provide significantconvenience advantages to consumers over non-electronic privilege cards(“Cards”) such as easy accessibility and being more environmentallyfriendly that their paper and plastic counterparts. These eCards,including any associated barcodes, can be stored in an electronicversion of a wallet and can be displayed on a device such as a mobiletelephone that has access to the wallet. When displayed, eCards can beused with barcode readers in the same fashion as their physicalcounterparts.

FIG. 1 shows a number of ways in which today's consumer can obtain aphysical Card at 101: By applying for one via a web form (105), phone(103), or paper form (103). In all cases, the issuer collectsinformation about the applicant and enters the information into adatabase (111, 109, 115). The consumer obtains a physical Card eitherimmediately or via service such as US mail (107, 113, 115). Once theconsumer has a physical copy of the card, he/she can then create anelectronic version of the card (117). Currently available ways of doingthis include:

-   -   Consumers fill out a form using an application running on a        mobile device in which the consumer selects the type of Card        from a pre-defined list and then enters the required information        for that Card. The application can then present all of this        information at a single time in tabular form, or place it on        some type of background image to have it appear more like the        original physical Card,    -   Consumers fill out a form using a desktop application running on        a personal computer in which the consumer selects the type of        card from a pre-defined list and then enters the required        information for that Card. The desktop application then        transfers this information to an application running on the        mobile device which then presents all of this information at a        single time, or places it on some type of background image to        have it appear more like the original physical Card.

Neither of these methods incorporates the use/display of a barcode aspart of the eCard. The eCards made as described above are stored in anelectronic wallet for easy access by the user. To me either the physicalcard or the eCard made from it, the user presents the card or the imageof the eCard (119) to a representative of the issuer, who validates thecard and provides the privilege represented by the card (121).

All kinds of eCard versions of privilege cards have a number ofadvantages over physical privilege cards:

-   -   A consumer can carry any number of eCards is a mobile phone    -   The eCards, if used as full replacements for non-electronic        privilege cards, can reduce printing and delivery costs.

Privilege cards that are originally issued as eCards have a number ofadditional advantages over eCards made as indicated at 117 of FIG. 1:

-   -   Validation of a privilege card that is originally issued as an        eCard can be automated and more kinds of validation are possible        with eCards than with physical privilege cards. With eCards,        validation checks can be performed        -   when the eCard is issued and/or        -   before/after they are to be displayed.    -   The latter cheeks can determine things such as whether the eCard        has expired, whether a fixed number of uses has been exceeded,        whether use of the card has resulted in further privileges, or        whether the eCard is being used in the proper location.    -   eCards with automated validation can be used with clerkless        point of sale systems.

Some of the issues with prior art solutions for obtaining an electronicform of a previously-existing privilege card include the lack of thevalidity checking that is available with an eCard, the lack of a way ofensuring that the eCard's barcode has the best form for the mobiledevice's display, and the lack of a way to obtain an eCard by simplyusing text messaging/SMS.

Further, obtaining an eCard as set forth in the discussion of FIG. 1does not address four fundamental issues around the convenience ofobtaining an electronic representation of a physical Card a consumer isalready in possession of:

-   -   a way to easily communicate the method of requesting an eCard        version of an already existing physical privilege,    -   a method for a consumer to enter or send in an existing        identification number (barcode or other identification number)        from the internet or mobile device to an Electronic Card Issuing        System and receiving back an electronic representation of that        code on their mobile device,    -   a way to shorten the number of digits that the consumer needs to        type in order to enter their identification number, and    -   a way for the consumer to identify the merchant/program that the        identification number belongs to in order that appropriate logos        or other identifying marks can be incorporated into the Card

It is an object of the techniques disclosed in the following DetailedDescription to provide users of mobile phones and other digital deviceswith displays and network connections with easy-to-use techniques formaking eCards that correspond to already issued privilege cards, whichpermit the kinds of verification that are possible with eCardsgenerally, and which are optimized for display on the devices for whichthey are intended.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the object of the techniques is achieved by a method ofmaking an electronic version of a previously-issued privilege card for auser. The previously-issued privilege card is issued by a card issuerand the method includes the steps performed in the processor of:

-   -   receiving issue validation information for the electronic        version from the user, the issue validation information        including at least card identification information for the        preexisting card;    -   using the issue validation information and information of the        card issuer to determine whether the electronic version should        issue; and    -   on validation, making the electronic version of the preexisting        privilege card.

Further details of the above method are associating use validationinformation provided by the card issuer with the electronic version andusing display information for a device upon which the electronic versionis to be displayed to wake the electronic version. In many cases, theelectronic version includes a barcode and the display in formation isused to generate the barcode.

In another aspect, the invention is a method of making an electroniccard for a mobile telephone. The telephone has a display and the abilityto send text messages and the method includes the following steps. Thesteps are performed in a server to which the mobile telephone am sendtext messages:

-   -   receiving a text message from the mobile telephone;    -   making an electronic card based on the text message, the        electronic card being displayable on the mobile telephone; end    -   providing the electronic card to the mobile telephone.

Also included in this aspect are the steps performed in the mobiletelephone of:

-   -   sending a text message to a server, the server responding to the        test message by making an electronic card that is based on the        text and is displayable on the mobile telephone; and    -   receiving the electronic card from the server.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in thearts to which the invention pertains upon perusal of the followingDetailed Description and drawing, wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 Prior art techniques for providing consumers with non-electroniccards and then making e-cards corresponding to the non-electronic cards;

FIGS. 2A-2D (collectively FIGS. 2) Techniques of the invention formaking e-cards corresponding to non-electronic cards;

FIGS. 3A-3B (collectively FIG. 3) First example of an electronic loyaltycard made using the inventive techniques;

FIGS. 4A-4B (collectively FIG. 4) Second example of an electronicloyalty card made using the inventive techniques; and

FIG. 5 A non-electronic loyalty card that is particularly adapted tobeing used to make an electronic loyalty card using the inventivetechniques.

Reference numbers in the drawing have three or more digits: the tworight-hand digits are reference numbers in the drawing indicated by theremaining digits. Thus, an item with the reference number 203 firstappears as item 203 in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Overview of the Techniques

The following provides a general overview of the techniques andintroduces terminology that is particularly relevant to the techniques.Included in the terminology are issue validation, the validation of aneCard prior to issue, and use validation, the continuing revalidation ofthe eCard after the card is issued to ensure that the card is valid whenused. The basic process of issuing an eCard corresponding to analready-issued privilege card is for a user to enter information aboutthe already-issued privilege Card such as merchant and identificationnumber into a mobile device or web page. This information, termed issuevalidation information, is then transmitted to a server for validation(issue validation) and eCard generation. Before issuing the eCard, theserver uses information obtained from the issuer of the non-electronicprivilege card together with the information provided by the user todetermine whether the eCard corresponds to a valid non-electronic Card.If so, the eCard may issue. Otherwise, it will not. The server may alsoobtain additional information from the user or the issuer of thenon-electronic Card which is used to determine what kinds of validitychecks will be made on the eCard when it is in use (use validationinformation). When the server issues the eCard, it may associatevalidity checking information derived from the use validationinformation with the eCard.

The issued eCard is then transmitted to a validity checking wallet whichcan perform the use validity checks. If the server has access toinformation about the display device the eCard is to be displayed upon,the server can also optimize the eCard for the display device. Inparticular, if the eCard includes a barcode, the server can optimize thebarcode for the display device. Such device display information can beobtained by having the server look in the database of the carrierassociated with the mobile device (if available) to determine the exactphone and model number associated with a mobile number. The server canthen obtain information directly from a database of mobile devicecharacteristics which is accessible by the server. If such informationis not available from the mobile carrier, the server can return amessage to the user asking the user to click on a web page.

When a mobile phone-based browser views a web page, it providesidentification information about the mobile device which can then beused to look up display characteristics from a database of mobile devicecharacteristics which is accessible by the server. Validity checkingwallets and a number of use validity checks which can be performed bysuch wallets are disclosed in 2007/0241189; Techniques for optimizingbarcodes for different display devices are disclosed in WO2007/127385.

As shown in FIG. 2, in a presently-preferred embodiment, a user sends ina text message to a Wallet Content Generator (WCG) (290) in the form of‘Content Type’, ‘Information’ for example, Text: Blockbuster123456789012 to 78527 (202). In this case, the text indicates the issuerof the non-electronic privilege card and includes an identificationnumber for the non-electronic privilege card. “78572” is an SMSshortcode which identifies WCG 290 in the mobile telephone network.Other identifications of WCG 290 may be used as well. The WCG thenattempts to perform a first issue validation check by matching thecontent type to a list of known content types (204). Here, the contenttype is indicated by the issuer name “Blockbuster” and the form of theidentification number. If the content type is not known, the WCG willrespond to the User via text message that their message has failedvalidation and that they should try again (208).

If the Content Type is known, then the WCG will determine if additionalcontent is required to make the eCard (210). Such additional contentcould be additional issue validation information. Examples could be thevalue of the identification number, information identifying the user ofthe eCard, information characterizing the user such as the user's age orgroup number, or detailed answers to identity-based questions such ascredit limit, current balance information, or recent transaction. Theadditional content could also be use validation information such as thecard expiration date, group number, additional codes present on theCard, or expiration date. Other additional content could be informationrequired to display the eCard properly such as a digital photograph ofthe non-electronic Card. If so, the WCG will obtain the necessarycontent/information either from the user or will use information fromthe card issuer. The additional content/information from the user may beobtained via text messages or via a web page (212). At 214, additionalvalidation cheeks may be made to ensure that all of the necessaryinformation required for the Content Type has been collected and it isaccurate. If all of the information required for the Content Type cannotbe obtained, then inform the user (214,216). If information can beobtained, then determine if the Content Type has an associated barcode(214, 218). If there is no barcode, then using the Content Type and thecollected information, generate content for the mobile device. If thereis an associated barcode (222) then using Content Type and whateveradditional information is needed to generate the barcode. Techniques foraccurately generating such barcodes on varying types of mobile deviceswith pixel based displays in a fashion such that the barcode is readableby a barcode reader are described generally above and in detailedfashion in WO2007/127385. Following step 220 or 222, the process willcontinue with the steps under either 285 or 290.

If the content will reside in a validity checking wallet that resides onand runs on the mobile device, then step 224 in 285 sends the user atext message containing directions to either i) click a link containedin the message to download a wallet to store the content if the user isunsure that such wallet is not already on the mobile device, or ii) ifthe user believes the wallet is already on the mobile device, to remindthe user to open the wallet application and update the content. If theuser does not have the validity checking wallet already on their mobiledevice (226, 230), the user clicks the link to download the validitychecking wallet and Content. If the user already has the validitychecking wallet on their mobile device (226, 228), then the user runsthe validity checking wallet application and updates the content.

Continuing on to Step 232, at some later point in time, the userdisplays the eCard. At this point, the validity checking wallet runningon the mobile device determines whether the content is still valid.Techniques for doing this are described in 2007/0241189. If the contentis not valid (234, 236), then do not display the eCard. If the contentis valid, then proceed to step 238 and display the eCard on the mobilephone. If the eCard has a barcode and there is a barcode reader, theeCard may be displayed to the barcode reader; then proceed to step 240and update validity information per the methods in 2007/0241189.

Alternatively, the wallet functionality can be delivered by a serverbased application which is accessible via a web browser running on themobile device. In this case, starting with step 290, send the user atext message containing a clickable link that will display a web basedvalidity checking wallet when clicked. When the user clicks the link instep 252, they are able to view the validity checking wallet. Continuingon to step 254, the user selects the content they wish to view.

If the contest is not valid (256, 258), then do not display the contentin the browser. If the content is valid, then proceed to step 260 anddisplay the eCard in the browser. If the eCard has a barcode and abarcode reader is available, the eCard may be displayed to the barcodereader; then proceed to step 262 and update validity information per themethods in patent application 2007/0241189.

The following section describes two methods for using the techniquesjust described to make an eCard version of a preexisting non-electronicloyalty card.

Method 1—Via Text Message FIG. 3

In this method, the back (or front) of each non-electronic loyalty Card306 is imprinted with a message similar to the following: “Text%merchant code% %Card Number% to %shortcode% to receive a copy of thiscard on your mobile phone.” In this example, %merchant code% is the nameof the loyalty card's issuer or some shortened version of it and %CardNumber% is the actual number on the non-electronic loyally card. Aspecific example of this for a loyalty card is: “Text SHAW 123456789012to 78527 to receive a copy of this card on year mobile device. (304)

After the user has received the non-electronic loyalty card 306 from theissuer (308), the user can make an eCard version of the loyalty card bytexting in the message to the shortcode (310.) When the user texts inthe message, the message goes to a server with an Electronic CardIssuing System (ECIS) (318). The ECIS receives the message, obtains thelogo for the merchant, determines if the merchant's card has a barcode,optionally determines if there was any other information that needs tobe i) obtained from the user via additional user interaction, ii)obtained from the card issuer, or iii) delivered with the card,optionally validates the card number, and then prepares an electronicpackage containing the eCard and/or an electronic validity checkingwallet. The ECIS may also optionally obtain information about the mobiledevice in order to accurately render a barcode and/or other graphicalinformation. The information may come from the user or may be obtainedfrom information about the cell phone maintained in the cellular networkor based upon interaction with the mobile device as described in thisapplication and in WO2007/1273. At this point, a text message (SMS),email, or similar communication is sent from the ECIS (318) to themobile device. The user then receives the text message or othercommunication containing instructions for how to download a validitychecking wallet containing the eCard (or add the eCard to a validitychecking wallet that was already on the mobile device) (320). Oneexample of this is to send a Text message containing a link, as shown at321. If the user already has a validity checking wallet on his/herphone, s/he opens the validity checking wallet application and request adownload of the eCard (322, 324). If the user does not already have acopy of the validity checking wallet on the phone, the user clicks on alink to download the validity checking wallet pre-loaded with the eCard.(322, 326) At this point, the user runs the validity checking walletapplication (330) containing eCard(s) (332) whenever they want toaccess/display their eCard(s). As an alternative method if the user doesnot already have a copy of the validity checking wallet on the phone,the user clicks on a link to download an empty validity checking walletapplication, and then opens the validity checking wallet application andrequests a download of the eCard.

Method 2—Via the Internet/Web—FIG. 4

In this method, the user has received a non-electronic loyalty card 406from an issuer (408). To make a corresponding loyalty eCard, the uservisits a web site (410) associated with the Electronic Card IssuingSystem (ECIS) (418), creates a user account, and then enters themerchant, the Card number, optional additional information, and anoption to include a barcode (410). After entering this data, the userthen enters their mobile phone number and requests that the eCard betransferred to their phone. At this point, the ECIS optionallydetermines if there is any other information needed to be delivered withthe Card(s), optionally validates the Card(s) number, and then preparesan electronic package containing the eCard(s) and/or a validity checkingwallet. The ECIS may also optionally request information about themobile device (or look up this information) in order to accuratelyrender a barcode and/or other graphical information. At this point, atext message (SMS), email, or similar communication is sent from theECIS (418) to the mobile device. The user then receives the text messageor other communication containing instructions for how the user candownload a validity checking wallet containing the eCard (or add theeCard to a validity checking wallet that was already on the mobiledevice) (420). One example of this is to send a Text message containinga link, as shown at 421. If the user already has a validity checkingwallet on his/her phone, s/he opens the validity checking walletapplication and requests a download of the card (422, 424). If the userdoes not already have a copy of the validity checking wallet on thephone, s/he could click on a link to download the validity checkingwallet pre-loaded with the eCard. (422, 426) At this point, the userruns the validity checking wallet application, as shown at 430containing eCard(s) (432) whenever they want to access/display theireCard(s) (428).

As an alternative to Method 2, the user uses their mobile devicecontaining a web browser to enter the Card data, and is then immediatelypresented with a link to download the eCard and/or validity checkingwallet instead of receiving a message via text message, email, or othercommunication.

Optional Method for Testing in Card Number: Detailed in FIG. 5

As an alternative to Method 1 or 2 and to increase the convenience tothe user and decrease the possibility of the user entering the wrongcard number, the %merchant code% and/or card number %Card Number% thatthe user sends in is shortened by using an encoding scheme to a) reducethe total number of digits in the Card dumber and b) uniquely identifythe club/loyalty/membership/payment program associated with the Cardnumber. Then, a user texts in this shortened Supercode (504) to receivea copy of the eCard to their mobile device.

Ex: Membership Card: BlockBuster Video; Membership Number: 1234 56789123 (12 digits). The Blockbuster membership card may have a SuperCodeprinted on the card that represents the above number in base 62 (usingA-Z, a-z, 0-9 as digits). The SuperCode in this case is: 2A126WS. Notethat this SuperCode is only 7 digits long.

Additional Delivery Methods

It is important to note that the ECIS could return eCards in a number ofmanners in addition to text message and to electronic validity checkingwallet. These alternative methods include via Multimedia MessagingService (MMS), or web page viewable on the user's mobile device.

Additional Methods for User to Request an eCard

An alternative method for a user to request an eCard would be for theuser to initiate the Card request directly from the electronic validitychecking wallet by entering the Card number and merchant identifier intothe validity checking wallet, and then having the validity checkingwallet either a) directly generate the eCard itself or b) send a requestto the ECIS to generate a new eCard. In the case of a), the validitychecking wallet would be performing both the issue validation as well asthe use validation. Another alternative method is for the mobiledevice's camera to take a photograph of the Card, and through acombination of image recognition and barcode decoding done directly onthe mobile device or on the server, identify the Merchant, the Cardnumber, and possibly additional information from the card and turn thisdirectly into an eCard. If this recognition and decoding is done on theserver, then the server would transmit the card back to the mobiledevice via one of the methods already described herein.

Making eCards from Arbitrary Text Messages

While the techniques just described are particularly useful where theeCard is an electronic version of an already-issued privilege card andpermit both issue validation and use validation of the eCard, asimplified version of the techniques can also be used to make any textmessage into an eCard. In this simplified version, the server respondsto the text message by making an eCard that has the text message as itscontent and providing it to the cell phone. If the server has or canobtain information about the type of display used in the device fromwhich the text message originated, the server can optimize the eCard forthat type of display. It would of course also be possible to obtaininformation from the user which would permit use validation of the card.

CONCLUSION

The foregoing Detailed Description has disclosed to those skilled in therelevant technologies how to make and use eCards that are electronicversions of already-issued privilege cards and how to make and useeCards that are made from a text message and has further set forth thebest mode presently known to the inventors of implementing theirinvention. It will, however, be immediately apparent to those skilled inthe relevant technologies that many variations on the techniquesdisclosed herein are possible. The kind of communication between thedevice which is to receive the eCard and the server will depend on thekinds of devices involved, as will the kinds of optimizations for thebar codes.

The kinds of issue validity checking and use validity checking that aredone will depend on the purpose of the privilege card and of the eCardthat is based on the privilege card. It should be expressly noted herethat the kinds of use validity checking employed with the eCard may bedifferent from the kinds used with the non-electronic privilege card.Indeed, the kinds of use validity checking which are possible with theeCard may be a motive for the user to replace his or her non-electronicprivilege card with an eCard and may also be a motive for the issuer ofthe privilege card to encourage such a replacement. As pointed out inthe Detailed Description, the tasks necessary to produce the eCard maybe distributed is different ways among the portable device, the server,and a user's PC.

For all of the foregoing reasons, the Detailed Description is to beregarded as being in all respects exemplary and not restrictive, and thebreadth of the invention disclosed herein is to be determined not fromthe Detailed Description, but rather from the claims as interpreted withthe full breadth permitted by the patent laws.

What is claimed is:
 1. A server computer configured to make anelectronic version of a previously-issued non-electronic version of aprivilege card for a user having a device, the previously-issuednon-electronic version of the privilege card having been issued with acard identifier by a card issuer, the server computer comprising aprocessor, remote from the user's device and not operated by the cardissuer, and being configured to: receive, from the user and not via thecard issuer, issue validation information at the processor remote fromthe user's device for the electronic version including at least the cardidentifier for the previously-issued non-electronic version of theprivilege card; use at least the issue validation information andadditional information of the card issuer to validate whether theelectronic version of the previously-issued non-electronic version ofthe privilege card should issue; and in response to validation that theelectronic version of the previously-issued non-electronic version ofthe privilege card should issue, make the electronic version of thepreviously-issued non-electronic version of privilege card available tobe used as the privilege card through the user's device.
 2. The servercomputer of claim 1 further configured to: associate use validationinformation provided by the card issuer with the electronic version ofthe previously-issued non-electronic version of the privilege card. 3.The server computer of claim 1, wherein, to make the electronic versionof the previously-issued non-electronic version of privilege cardavailable, the server computer is further configured to transmit theelectronic version of the previously-issued non-electronic version ofthe privilege card to the user's device.
 4. The server computer of claim1, wherein the user's device is a mobile telephone and wherein theserver computer if further configured to make the electronic version ofthe previously-issued non-electronic privilege card displayable on themobile telephone.
 5. A server computer configured to provide anelectronic version of a previously-issued non-electronic privilege cardfor a user having a device, the previously-issued non-electronicprivilege card having been issued with a card identifier by a cardissuer, the server computer, being remote from the device of the user,wherein the device of the user and the server computer are not operatedby the card issuer, and being configured to: receive, from the device ofthe user and not via the card issuer, issue validation information forthe electronic version including at least the card identifier for thepreviously-issued non-electronic privilege card; validate whether theelectronic version of the previously-issued non-electronic privilegecard should issue using at least the issue validation information andadditional information from the card issuer; in response to validation,generate the electronic version of the previously-issued non-electronicprivilege card; transmit the electronic version to the device of theuser, wherein the electronic version is configured to be displayed onthe device of the user, wherein the electronic version of thepreviously-issued non-electronic privilege card is available for use asthe privilege card on the device of the user by displaying theelectronic version on the a display of the device of the user.
 6. Theserver computer of claim 5, further configured to associate usevalidation information provided by the card issuer with the electronicversion of the previously-issued non-electronic privilege card.
 7. Theserver computer of claim 5, wherein to generate the electronic version,the server computer generates a barcode representing the privilege card.8. A server computer configured to make electronic versions ofpreviously-issued non-electronic privilege cards for users havingdevices, each of the previously-issued non-electronic privilege cardshaving been issued with a card identifier by a card issuer from among aplurality of card issuers, the server computer being remote from theusers' devices and not operated by the card issuers, and the servercomputer being configured to: receive, from the devices of the users andnot via the card issuers, issue validation information for theelectronic versions, the issue validation information including at leastthe card identifiers for the previously-issued non-electronic privilegecards; for each privilege card for which issue validation information isreceived from a user device, validate whether the electronic version ofthe previously-issued non-electronic privilege card should issue on theuser device, according to the issue validation information andadditional information of the card issuer; and for each privilege cardfor which issue validation information is received from a user device,in response to validation, make the electronic version of thepreviously-issued non-electronic privilege card available through theuser device.
 9. The server computer of claim 8, wherein, to make theelectronic version of the previously-issued non-electronic version ofprivilege card available, the server computer is further configured totransmit the electronic version of the previously-issued non-electronicversion of the privilege card to the user device.
 10. The servercomputer of claim 8, wherein the user's device is a mobile telephone andwherein the server computer if further configured to make the electronicversion of the previously-issued non-electronic privilege carddisplayable on the mobile telephone.
 11. The server computer of claim 8,further configured to associate use validation information provided bythe card issuer with the electronic version of the previously-issuednon-electronic privilege card.
 12. The server computer of claim 8,wherein to generate the electronic version, the server computergenerates a barcode representing the privilege card.
 13. A systemconfigured to make electronic versions of previously-issuednon-electronic privilege cards for users, issued by a plurality of cardissuers, each of the previously-issued non-electronic privilege cardshaving been issued to one of the users with a card identifier by one ofthe plurality of card issuers, the system comprising: a plurality ofuser devices, each user device being associated with one of the users; aserver computer being remote from the plurality of user devices; whereinthe plurality of user devices and the server computer are not operatedby the card issuers; wherein each of the plurality of user devices isconfigured to: transmit issue validation information for apreviously-issued non-electronic privilege cards to the server computerand not via the card issuer for the privilege card; wherein the servercomputer is configured to: receive, from the user devices and not viathe card issuers, issue validation information for the electronicversions, the issue validation information including at least the cardidentifiers for the previously-issued non-electronic privilege cards;for each privilege card for which issue validation information isreceived from a user device, validate whether the electronic version ofthe previously-issued non-electronic privilege card should issue on theuser device, according to the received issue validation information andadditional information of the card issuer for the privilege card; andfor each privilege card for which issue validation information isreceived from a user device, in response to validation, generate theelectronic version of the previously-issued non-electronic privilegecard and transmit the electronic version of the previously-issuednon-electronic version of the privilege card to the user device; whereineach of the plurality of user devices is further configured to: receiveand store the electronic version of the previously-issued non-electronicprivilege card to make the electronic version of the previously-issuednon-electronic privilege card available for use as the privilege cardfrom the user device.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein at least oneof the plurality of user devices is a mobile telephone.
 15. The systemof claim 13, wherein the server computer is further configured togenerate the electronic version of the previously-issued non-electronicprivilege card to be displayable on mobile telephones.
 16. The system ofclaim 13, wherein the server computer is further configured to, for eachprivilege card having a validated electronic version, associate usevalidation information provided by the card issuer for that privilegecard with the electronic version of the previously-issued non-electronicprivilege card.
 17. The system of claim 13, wherein, to generate theelectronic version, the server computer is further configured togenerate a barcode representing the privilege card.
 18. The system ofclaim 13, wherein at least one of the plurality of user devices includesa wallet application running on the user device, wherein the walletapplication manages access to the electronic version of thepreviously-issued non-electronic privilege card on the user device. 19.The system of claim 18, wherein the wallet application running on the atleast one of the plurality of user devices configures the user device tovalidate the electronic version of the previously-issued non-electronicprivilege card when the electronic version of the previously-issuednon-electronic privilege card is used.
 20. The system of claim 19,wherein the server computer is further configured to, for each privilegecard having a validated electronic version, associate use validationinformation provided by the card issuer for that privilege card with theelectronic version of the previously-issued non-electronic privilegecard.
 21. The system of claim 18, wherein the wallet application runningon the at least one of the plurality of user devices configures the userdevice to display the electronic version of the previously-issuednon-electronic privilege card so as to enable the user of the userdevice to use the electronic version of the previously-issuednon-electronic privilege card.
 22. The system of claim 21, wherein theelectronic version of the previously-issued non-electronic privilegecard includes a barcode when displayed on the user device.